The son of racecar driver Bob Holbert, Al Holbert also ran their Volkswagen-Porsche dealership in Warrington, PA.

Al Holbert worked for Roger Penske while studying at Lehigh University. In 1971, Holbert scored his first race win in a Porsche and would turn professional in 1974. He would score his first of his two IMSA titles in 1976 and 1977 in a Chevrolet Monza. Building on his success after winning the 1976 IMSA title, Holbert traded in his first DeKon (c/n 1008) Monza for a new DeKon (c/n 1014) for the '77 IMSA season. He sold c/n 1008 to John Paul, owner and driver for J.L.P. Racing. Hoping to capitalize on Holbert's success with c/n 1008, Paul's effort wasn't quite the same despite updates to a phase 4 body style.

In 1976, Al had an incident at Lime Rock in the first heat. According to an eye witness, Holbert headed into the first turn and locked up the brakes then slid off the track. The car went up the bank and flipped over on its side. They patched it back together in time to start 3rd and finish 22nd, although technically a DNF for only 31 of 66 laps. In the photo above, you can see the large anti-roll bar behind the rear axle. And, what looks like a pulley under the rear axle is actually a differential oil cooler.

Being a Porsche supporter, Holbert allowed Porsche technicians to inspect his Monza, which would eventually lead to Porsche entering the series with turbocharged cars such as the 934 that led to a Porsche dominance for the following years. During that time Holbert jumped ship to the Stuttgart marque.